What’s For Dinner? Hello Fresh: Dinner for Two

Authors Note: My New Year’s resolution is to solve the biggest ulcer-inducing part of life. That’s figuring out what’s for dinner every night! I am sure I am not the only one, so follow me on this adventure as I discover different ways to answer this question. Please note that this include an affiliate links when you use my coupon code to save $40. While it is at no cost to you, I do appreciate your support.

As a millennial DINK couple one of the most overwhelming sentences is, “What’s for dinner?” after a long day. I don’t know about you, but after a long day the thing I hate doing is trying to figure out dinner especially since I am not a cook. When my husband was deployed cooking for one was super easy. I made a batch of freezer meals, which I froze in one servings. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work as well when the husband is around. Not only is it boring, the meals I made are one of his least favorite foods. I was beyond over eating out too.

So, what’s for dinner?

We had heard about Blue Apron, but after reviewing their menus we had not been thrilled (but stay tuned as we are trying that next). A fellow military wife turned me on to Hello Fresh. We decided to try it and have it on the doorstep when we arrived home from Fiji.

So our five meals arrived in a large box with tons of ice packs.

(Side Note- If you have cats, leave this box out. They will think its the best gift ever, if they are anything like my crazy cats.)

The different meals are separated into boxes with the meats all being in a separate bag with an additional two ice packs. They all fit well in the refrigerator and are easy to use.

The individual boxes look like this.

Hello Fresh sends you very awesome recipe cards for each meal. It makes it easy to choose what meal to have first so you aren’t asking, “What’s for dinner?” The recipe cards are also easy to follow. We spread them out on the counter and read through them to pick our favorite. The one the husband is holding up is the one that we did chose for the evening and the one I will be displaying. So hope you love steak, because you will be hungry if you keep reading! 🙂

On each menu card, there is a picture, the ingredients, and the calories. The calories are all between 700-800 calories but it was enough for me to eat the next.

This is the front of the card.

This is the back of the card. It has the ingredients and step-by-step directions.

The best part is these are sturdy cards that you can reuse. I plan on putting them all in a binder to use later. This way when life gets crazy, I know which ones I LOVE. I can buy the ingredients and make the items from scratch.

This is what the ingredients look like all spread out.

Here are some shots of the dinner as I was cooking it.

We had to sear the beef.

Next, we cooked the kale.

We made the yummy potatoes.

The meal took as long as it was advertised — 45 minutes — but it was a very easy cooking, even from my someone who is a beginner chef such as myself.

The best part was there was even leftovers for me to eat the next day. The meal produced two dinners and a lunch for me the next day.

What I Learned about Hello Fresh

Not All Ingredients are Included – I was a little bummed that not all the ingredients were included. In this meal, I had to come up with my own oil and butter. While not a huge deal, this meal will require a few things to be have around the house. So this wouldn’t be a perfect gift for a bare kitchen.

5 Meal Plan – You cannot chosoe what meals you want with the 5 Meal Plan. If you do the 3 Meal Plan you can choose your meals. We plan on doing that with our next meal sets.

Cost of Meal – It works out to be between $8.75- $9.90 per person. While there are many great plans that will help you maximize your meal plans (such as I am That Lady’s Meal Plan) for as little as possible. Hello Fresh is great since they include all the ingredients you need from the random small-sized sour cream (otherwise you would have bought a huge jar wasting money if you are like me and only needed it for one meal).

I love my family, my country and real estate. My goal is to retire early through frugal living and real estate investment. I am making great strides and want to share the information I've learned through the process. Read More...